Hand Poke Tattoo

After the locals from the Amis tribe, Bunun, and Puyuma tribes inspired me with their tribal tattoos, I decided I wanted one as well. I spent a night in Taitung, singing and playing songs for hours with these local people who I will forever keep in my heart. They spoke nothing but great things about their tattoo artist, who happened to live a couple of streets over from where I was staying.

I was instantly drawn to her when they told me that she creates the tattoo herself, based on your energy and vibration you give off. I had always wanted a tattoo but was too indecisive to ever really decide on something. I couldn’t think of a better way to get one.

I got in contact with her and we decided to meet up at the family mart to see if it would be a good fit for her to give me a tattoo. She was an American lady, who had been living in Taiwan for years now. She gained her credibility in the local areas, and now everyone came to her for their tattoos. Every tattoo she gives is completely different, and created especially for the individual. 

A couple of days later, she invited me to her house to receive the tattoo. Her house was completely magical. I think it was my dream house. Everything about it was just so special. There were two hammocks draped across the center of the living room, the walls were as bright as could be. Everything was homemade, from the furniture to the driftwood windows. By far the most sustainable thing I have seen in Taiwan so far.

I told her where I wanted the tattoo and that was the only say I had in this. Of course I could have told her I didn’t like it or to change something at any moment. But I trusted her skill in her passion and I wanted this to be her best work with no interruptions. So I let her just ride with it. Again, crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

She got out her markers and began asking me questions about my life. The more she found out about me, the more that changed with my tattoo. We talked for hours, sharing pieces of our lives with each other. It was pretty funny. I would tell her something, that I thought wasn’t an important bit of my life, and I could feel her erasing big parts of the tattoo and changing it completely. I wish I could have a peak into her mind while all this was happening.

Obviously I was incredibly nervous to have a complete stranger give me a tattoo, with zero input from me. But in a way, it was calming. I knew she was an amazing artist, and from the moment I met her I felt her radiant energy. I think I would have been much more nervous if it was my drawing or my choice of a tattoo. But my mindset was kind of different because if I didn’t like it, the blame wouldn’t really fall on me. There was basically wasn’t really a margin for regret here.

After several hours of drawing on the back of my arm, we decide to take a break to eat dinner. Her husband, Iguana, an aboriginal man from the Amis tribe cooked us up a big pot of delicious curry. It was the absolute best curry I have ever had.

A friend of theirs came over to join us for dinner. I was totally and completely infatuated with this guy’s life. He built sustainable houses. He recently built a house completely out of plastic bottles. I was trying to pick his brain as much as I could but due to the language barrier, it wasn’t as easy as I would have liked it to be. He used to build these houses for free, and now has realized that he can make a living off of it. He will be traveling to China soon to continue living the dream.

Our souls greatly connected; we had the same sort of life experience happening to us. He told us how life just keeps working in his favor and he doesn’t really have an explanation for it. He says to us how he is a lucky many, and the universe is always watching over him. I really thought this man had mind reading powers. I seriously was thinking the phrases in my head as he was spewing them out of his mouth; but I was thinking about my life. I’ve always thought I was extremely lucky; life tends to just always work in my favor because I always listen to what the universe is communicating to me, and I trust it. It’s very rare to come across someone who is having a similar spiritual journey, and when you do, it’s such an intense connection. I completely understood absolutely everything he was saying, the universe was treating me the exact same way.

We sat on the floor, all indulging in the amazing curry that Iguana had made for us. The wood stove was  burning logs, emitting a homey, smokey smell. There is a wood stove in our cabin back home in Virginia that my great grandfather made, so it really hit home for me. It could not have been a better atmosphere for me to get a tattoo in. Afterwards we started the tattooing process.

I was given fluffy wool socks to keep my piggies warm; fantastic touch! She got out her sage, and saged the room and all around my arm, ensuring to keep the evil spirits away from my tattoo. Afterwards, she performed a small reiki session on me. She got out her rose quartz stone and taped her needle to it. She fetched a leaf from the backyard, yet again another sustainable touch that just made me as happy as a clam, to use to remove the ink off of the needle.

We did the paperwork gunk, and all the nonsense, then got to marking me for life. I was really satisfied with the drawing she had drawn for me. She informed me that it would most likely change, during the tattooing session.

In the moment I was so calm about it. “Yeah whatever fellow earthling, express your mind permanently on my body. Free yourself my sacred sister.” You know, all post-reiki brained. She could have tattooed an umbrella on my arm and I would have been like “wow, so spiritual. You’re a tattoo goddess with a mind unchained from the limitations enacted by society.”

I lay down on the tattooing table her husband had
constructed, and turn my head away from where she will begin the tattoo. I was such a chicken, I could not even watch her do it. As I could feel her grip my arm and bring the needle closer, I say “wait!” I turn my head, eyes locked on the needle.

She begins to hand poke my arm. Honestly, I was pretty stoked to feel what it actually felt like because everyone always talks about tattoo pain. I was excited to finally know what everyone was always talking about. After the first ten pokes I think to myself “shit, there’s no way I want to sit through this pain for an extended amount of time.” It wasn’t that painful, but it was more so annoying. Like continuously getting pricked by something.

After about five minutes, your body releases a hormone similar to adrenaline. Once that released in my body, I could have laid there for days with her poking my tattoo. It was uncomfortable, but there have been much more painful things I have experienced. It was all mental. I am sure if I put an emphasis on the fact that a needle was going in and out of my arm for an hour and half, it would have been much more painful. But, I focused on her life that she was sharing with me.

She went on about her experiences at Burning Man, or tattooing in the jungles after a massive earthquake. She has lived a life I aspire to live, and I was astounded by her accomplishments. We had very similar mindsets. Living from day-to-day, making all decisions in the spur of a moment, truly enjoying life as much as it would possibly allow us to. So talking to her was brainstorming for my future, in a way.

Finally, my tattoo was done. It was beautiful. It had changed from the drawing, but that was totally fine; it was perfect actually. I loved absolutely everything about it and it meant so much to me. I tried to pick up my head and seriously thought I had broken something in my neck. I was so focused on watching my tattoo and the slight pain from it that I had forgotten to move my neck for the whole hour and a half. The neck pain was 12x more painful than the actual tattoo. 

Here is the meaning behind my tattoo:

Sunrise: The sunrise at the bottom is to symbolize my bright personality and eternal positivity that I radiate.

Arrows: The three arrows are to remind me of what direction my journey is always going. It is to remind me to stay striving towards my dreams.

Flower: The flower is similar to a lotus flower. Lotus flowers grow in muddy waters. So this flower symbolizes the ability to grow, no matter what the circumstances may be. It represents spiritual growth.

Moon: The small moon at the top represents the universe. That the universe is always watching over me and protecting me throughout my journey.

This was what she came up with after talking to me, based on my energy. These are all symbols that represent some aspect of my life; the things about me that stand out to other people. But the way I interpret it coming from the inside is like this:

Sunrise: I felt that the sun was to represent me. To remind me to always be the positivity in everyone’s life. To bring light into every situation. To forever remember that situations are what you make of them and that you control how you feel. If you provide the goodness in every situation and depend on yourself for happiness, then you never have a reason for sadness.

Arrows: The three arrows instantly made me think of my three younger siblings. The arrows represent them, and remind me to always be a guide for them. To always guide my two younger brothers and sister on a positive path, being an example for them.

Flower: The flower made me think of my mom. No matter what we were going through while I was growing up, she never let me think we were struggling. She is the most incredible mother, and taught us to always keep pushing and to grow through any situation life may place us in. Which is what a lotus does in muddy waters. The situations may not always be ideal, but that is no excuse to give up. It is an opportunity to let that situation change you for the better.

Moon: The moon at the top represents my father. For as long as I can remember we have always said “I love you to the moon and back, forever and always.” It represents my dad who is always watching over me, providing me with protection.

I feel that in order for a tattoo to be truly meaningful, you must earn it. There must be a divine reason behind why you decided to place it on your body for the rest of your life; it must be the perfect moment in your life to get it. I truly think I deserved this tattoo and it couldn’t represent my life right now any more perfectly.

I decided to take a leap and trust the universe with my life recently. I broke out of society’s norms and expectations, in order to fulfill my dreams. I put my education and the rest of the expectations that come with it on the back burner for a little bit and decided to focus on what really matters to me. I left what was familiar to travel to places I have never been, completely alone. I took a leap.

With my tattoo, I feel that I did the same thing. I took and a leap and trusted that my tattoo artist would create something so special for me. And she did beyond that. She has created a piece of art that will forever bring me back to the feeling I have right now, which is a feeling I never want to forget. It is all part of the journey.